Component transfer apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A component transfer apparatus and method includes a mounting member on which a lower frame of a rack can be mounted and which is driven to move up and down in order to take out or retrieve components from the rack in which the components can be aligned and accommodated in a vertical direction; an upper push member that is arranged to face the mounting member from above and driven to move up and down in order to push the upper frame of the rack from above; and a carrying hand that can reciprocate between a retracted position where it faces the upper push member from below and a protruding position where it protrudes from the upper push member in a horizontal direction and that is driven to move up and down so as to enter a space below the upper frame to carry and suspend the rack at the protruding position and so as to move down the rack onto the mounting member at the retracted position. As a result, the rack can be smoothly carried in or carried out and the components can be smoothly supplied and retrieved, whereby operation efficiency can be enhanced and productivity can be improved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a component transfer apparatus andmethod that sets out a rack (or a magazine or a cassette) accommodatinga component at a predetermined position and takes out the componentaccommodated in the rack to be supplied to a supply area or retrieves(or collect) the component to be accommodated in the rack, and moreparticularly to a component transfer apparatus and method that can carryin a rack to a predetermined position to be positioned or carry out therack from the predetermined position in order to supply or retrieve aplate-like component such as a substrate.

II. Description of the Related Art

A rack (including, e.g., a magazine or a cassette) in which componentsfor an electronic device or a machine are vertically aligned andaccommodated has a slight error in dimension in accordance with eachmanufacturer even though it is applied to the same field. Further, thereare racks having various conformations, e.g., one having high rigidityor low rigidity, one distorted due to use over the years, and others.

Therefore, when such a rack is transferred to a predetermined positionto simply perform component supplying and retrieving operations withoutbeing assuredly positioned, these operations may not be smoothlyperformed and a fetch failure or a retrieval failure may possibly occur,thereby eventually affecting an entire production line using thecomponents to lower a production efficiency.

Thus, as a conventional component transfer apparatus that supplies orretrieves components by using such a rack (a magazine), there is knownan apparatus (a component supply apparatus) having a configuration thata positioning block which comes into contact with a side surface of amagazine and an adsorption transfer apparatus that adsorbs the sidesurface of the magazine by an adsorption pad to be transferred areprovided to an elevator and the magazine is caused to collide with thepositioning block to be positioned while adsorbing and sliding themagazine by the adsorption transfer apparatus when taking out themagazine from a magazine supply stage in order to take out the magazinemounted on the magazine supply stage to the elevator and sequentiallytake out components accommodated in the magazine or sequentiallyretrieve the same (see, e.g., Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No.8-306712).

However, in this apparatus, a flat sidewall surface must be provided tothe magazine in order to adsorb the side surface of the magazine, and aregion of this sidewall surface has a covered conformation. Therefore,workability when taking out and putting in each component with respectthe magazine or visibility when confirming an accommodation state ofeach component from the outside is degraded.

Furthermore, since the magazine is moved while being dragged along asupport surface when transferring the magazine between the magazinesupply stage and the elevator, if there is a step between the magazinesupply stage and the elevator, the magazine may be caught on this stepor may receive an impact when getting over the step, whereby anuntransferable state may occur or an accommodated component may possiblyfall or may be damaged.

Moreover, to effect a transfer operation, there are required two typesof energy systems, i.e., an electric energy system that activates amotor and others and an air energy system that sucks air for adsorptionusing the adsorption pad. Therefore, double facilities, managements andcosts are required to supply these two types of energy.

Additionally, as another component transfer apparatus, there is known anapparatus (a plate-like member carrying and supplying apparatus) thatincludes a frame that can accommodate a rack, an elevator that moves upand down the frame, a first push mechanism provided in the frame to pushfrom above and position the rack carried in with respect to a horizontalreference surface formed in the frame, and a second push mechanismprovided in the frame to push from a lateral direction and position therack carried in with respect to a vertical reference surface formed inthe frame, thereby pushing the distorted rack from the verticaldirection and the lateral direction to be corrected and set out at apredetermined position in the frame (see, e.g., Unexamined JapanesePatent Publication No. 10-87015).

However, this apparatus individually requires a driving mechanism (e.g.,a cylinder) that pushes the frame from the vertical direction and adriving mechanism (e.g., a cylinder) that pushes the frame from thelateral direction, thereby leading to complication of a configuration,an increase in cost, and others. Further, the rack carried into theframe can be set out at the predetermined position in the frame, and therack can be moved up and down, but the rack cannot be carried into theframe or carried out from the frame by using this apparatus, whereby adedicated transfer apparatus that transfers the rack is required.Furthermore, when a cylinder or the like is used as the drivingmechanism, a fluid energy system of a working fluid (air or a workingoil) that actuates the cylinder is required besides an electric energysystem. Therefore, double facilities, managements and costs are requiredto supply these two types of energy.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In view of the circumstances of the conventional technologies, it is anobject of the present invention to provide a component transferapparatus and method that can flexibly cope with various kinds of racks(or magazines or cassettes) used when supplying and retrievingcomponents, and can smoothly and highly accurately perform transfer andpositioning of each rack while achieving, e.g., simplification,miniaturization, or cost reduction of a configuration, thereby smoothlysupplying and retrieving the components, and improving operationefficiency and productivity.

A component transfer apparatus according to a first aspect of thepresent invention that achieves the above-mentioned object is acomponent transfer apparatus that transfers components by transferringand positioning a rack at a predetermined position to take out orretrieve components from the rack, the rack including an upper frame, alower frame, and vertical frames at four corners and being capable ofaligning and accommodating the components in a vertical directiontherein, the apparatus including: a mounting member that is configuredto mount the lower frame of the rack thereon and driven to move up anddown; an upper push member that is arranged to face the mounting memberfrom above and driven to move up and down in order to push the upperframe of the rack from above; and a carrying hand that is configured toreciprocate between a retracted position where it faces the upper pushmember from below and a protruding position where it protrudes from theupper push member in a horizontal direction, and is driven to move upand down in order to enter a space below the upper frame to carry andsuspend the rack at the protruding position and in order to move downthe rack onto the mounting member at the retracted position.

According to this configuration, when carrying in the rack to thepredetermined position, the carrying hand is protruded to carry andsuspend the rack and then moves to the retracted position to mount therack onto the mounting member, the rack can be set out and held at thepredetermined position by being pushed by the upper push member, and therack can be moved up and down step by step in a state that it is held bythe upper push member and the mounting member, thereby sequentiallytaking out the components arranged in the vertical direction to besupplied to a supply area or retrieving the components from a retrievalarea to be accommodated in the rack. On the other hand, when carryingout the rack from the predetermined position, the pushed state achievedby the upper push member is released, and the carrying hand is utilizedto carry and suspend the rack and then moves to the protruding position,thus transferring the rack to a predetermined transfer area. Since therack can be smoothly carried in or carried out and the components can besmoothly supplied and retrieved in this manner, operation efficiency canbe enhanced, and productivity can be improved.

In particular, since the upper push member is arranged to face themounting member from above and the carrying hand is arranged to face theupper push member from below at its retracted position, a series ofcarrying-in operations, i.e., carrying in the rack by the carrying hand,mounting onto the mounting member, and pushing by the upper push memberand the positioning operation or release of the positioning and thecarrying-out operation can be smoothly and efficiently executed.Furthermore, since the rack is transferred in a state that the upperframe of the rack is carried from the lower side and suspended by thecarrying hand, the upright posture can be maintained by its own weight,impact shock or the like produced at the time of sliding andtransferring can be avoided, and the components can be prevented fromfalling or being damaged.

The apparatus having the above-described configuration can adopt astructure where the carrying hand is provided to the upper push memberso as to relatively move with respect to the upper push member.

According to this configuration, since the carrying hand is held to bemovable with respect to the upper push member, simplification of theconfiguration can be achieved, and relative movement of both the membersor a synchronized movement timing can be easily set.

The apparatus having the above-described configuration can adopt astructure where the upper push member is formed so as to move up anddown with respect to the mounting member, and the carrying hand isformed so as to move with respect to the upper push member in thehorizontal direction alone.

According to this configuration, since the rack can be moved up and downby just driving the upper push member to move up and down and the upperpush member and the carrying hand integrally move in the verticaldirection, the driving mechanism that moves up and down the upper pushmember can be also used as a driving mechanism that moves up and downthe carrying hand to simplify the configuration, and the operation forpushing the rack by the upper push member can be performed in interlock(synchronization) with the operation for mounting the rack onto themounting member.

The apparatus having the above-described configuration can adopt astructure where an elevation driving mechanism that drives the upperpush member to move up and down is provided to the mounting member.

According to this configuration, an entire weight of the upper pushmember that moves up and down can be reduced, and the pushing operationor the pushing release operation can be smoothly performed.

The apparatus having the above-described configuration can adopt astructure where a guide portion that receives the lower frame of therack and guides it to the predetermined position is formed in themounting member, and a guide portion that receives the upper frame ofthe rack and guides it to the predetermined position is formed in theupper push member.

According to this configuration, since the guide portion is provided toeach of the mounting member and the upper push member, when moving downthe rack onto the mounting member in the suspended state and pushing therack from above by using the upper push member, the rack is guided tothe predetermined position by the guide portions in addition to thefunction that the rack maintains the upright posture by its own weight,and hence lateral displacement can be restricted and the rack can beaccurately set out at the predetermined position without providing,e.g., a lateral pushing mechanism.

The apparatus having the above-described configuration can adopt astructure that includes an inclination restricting member that restrictsan inclination of the rack when the rack is mounted on the mountingmember.

According to this configuration, since the inclination restrictingmember can restrict the lateral displacement and the inclination of therack, the rack can be more accurately set out at the predeterminedposition while simplifying the configuration.

The apparatus having the above-described configuration can adopt astructure that the inclination restricting member is formed so as toengage with outer surfaces of the vertical frames of the rack and engagewith inner surfaces of the vertical frames of the rack when the carryinghand returns to the retracted position.

According to this configuration, since the inclination restrictingmember restricts (the vertical frame of) the rack by the outer surfaceand the inner surface thereof, the inclination can be avoidedsimultaneously with positioning in the horizontal direction and, inparticular, the inner surface having a small error in manufacture isrestricted, whereby the rack can be assuredly and highly accurately setout at the predetermined position.

A component transfer method according to a second aspect of the presentinvention that achieves the above-mentioned object is a componenttransfer method for transferring components by transferring andpositioning a rack at a predetermined position to take out or retrievecomponents from the rack, the rack including an upper frame, a lowerframe, and vertical frames at four corners and being capable of aligningand accommodating the components in a vertical direction therein, themethod including: a carrying step of allowing a carrying hand toprotrude from a retracted position and enter a space below the upperframe, and then carrying and suspending the rack; a mounting step ofretracting the carrying hand to the retracted position and then loweringthe carrying hand to mount the rack on a mounting member; and a pushingstep of lowering an upper push member to push the upper frame of therack mounted on the mounting member from above.

According to this configuration, since the carrying-in operation for therack is performed based on a series of operations, i.e., the carryingstep, the mounting step, and the pushing step, the rack can be smoothlycarried in and set out at the predetermined position.

The method according to the second aspect having the above-describedconfiguration can adopt a structure that the lowering operation of thecarrying hand and the lowering operation of the upper push member areperformed in synchronization with each other.

According to this configuration, the operation for pushing the rack bythe upper push member can be smoothly continuously performed after theoperation for mounting the rack onto the mounting member.

The method according to the second aspect of the present inventionhaving the above-described configuration can adopt a structure that aninclination restricting operation for restricting an inclination of therack and a guiding operation for guiding it to the predeterminedposition are performed at the mounting step and the pushing step.

According to this configuration, the rack can be highly accurately setout at the predetermined position while assuredly restricting theinclination of the rack.

The method according to the second aspect having the above-describedconfiguration can adopt a structure that includes a moving up/down stepof sequentially moving up or down the rack in state that the rack isfixed by the mounting member and the push member.

According to this configuration, when the rack is moved up and down stepby step in the state that the rack is positioned and held, thecomponents vertically aligned and accommodated can be sequentially takenout to be smoothly supplied to the supply area, and the components canbe retrieved from the retrieval area to be smoothly accommodated.

Furthermore, a component transfer method according to a third aspect ofthe present invention that achieves the above-mentioned object is acomponent transfer method for transferring components by transferring arack from a predetermined position to take out or retrieve componentsfrom the rack, the rack including an upper frame, a lower frame, andvertical frames at four corners and being capable of aligning andaccommodating the components in a vertical direction therein, the methodincluding: a pushing release step of moving up an upper push member thatpushes the upper frame of the rack mounted on a mounting member fromabove to release pushing; a carrying step of moving up a carrying handat a retracted position and carrying the upper frame from below tosuspend the rack; and a transferring step of moving the carrying hand toa protruding position from the retracted position and then lowering thecarrying hand to transfer the rack to a transfer area.

According to this configuration, since the rack carrying-out operationis performed based on a series of operations, i.e., the pushing releasestep, the carrying step, and the transferring step, the rack can besmoothly carried out and transferred from the predetermined position tothe transfer area.

The method according to the third aspect having the above-describedconfiguration can adopt a structure that the elevating operation of theupper push member and the elevating operation of the carrying hand areperformed in synchronization with each other.

According to this configuration, the operation of carrying andsuspending the rack by the carrying hand can be smoothly continuouslyperformed after the operation of releasing the pushing by the upper pushmember.

The component transfer apparatus and method having the above-describedconfiguration can flexibly cope with various kinds of racks (ormagazines or cassettes) utilized when supplying and retrievingcomponents, and can smoothly and highly accurately perform transfer andpositioning each rack while achieving, e.g., simplification,miniaturization, or cost reduction of the configuration, and therebysmoothly supplying and retrieving the components, and improvingoperation efficiency and productivity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a component transferapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the component transferapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of the component transferapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a rack used in the component transferapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a front view showing the rack used in the component transferapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4C is a side view showing the rack used in the component transferapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a plan view showing a state that a carrying hand forming apart of the component transfer apparatus carries and suspends the rack;

FIG. 5B is a partial side view showing a state that the carrying handforming a part of the component transfer apparatus carries and suspendsthe rack;

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state that the rack is positioned,pushed, and fixed at a predetermined position by a mounting member, anupper push member, and an inclination restricting member forming a partof the component transfer apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state that the inclinationrestricting member forming a part of the component transfer apparatusrestricts an inclination of the rack;

FIG. 8 is an operational view showing a transferring operation forcarrying in the rack to a predetermined position by the componenttransfer apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an operational view showing the transferring operation forcarrying in the rack to the predetermined position by the componenttransfer apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an operational view showing the transferring operation forcarrying in the rack to the predetermined position by the componenttransfer apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an operational view showing the transferring operation forcarrying out the rack from the predetermined position to a transfer areaby the component transfer apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an operational view showing the transferring operation forcarrying out the rack from the predetermined position to a transfer areaby the component transfer apparatus according to the present invention;and

FIG. 13 is an operational view showing the transferring operation forcarrying out the rack from the predetermined position to a transfer areaby the component transfer apparatus according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will now bedescribed hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this component transfer apparatus includes abase 10, a support member 20 provided to stand upright on the base 10, amounting member 30 on which a rack R can be mounted and which isprovided to be capable of moving up and down in a vertical direction Z,a first elevation driving mechanism 40 that drives the mounting member30 to move up and down, an upper push member 50 provided to be capableof moving up and down in the vertical direction Z in an upper area whereit faces the mounting portion 30, a second elevation driving mechanism60 that drives the upper push member 50 to move up and down, carryinghands 70 provided to be capable of reciprocating in a horizontaldirection X with respect to the upper push member 50, a horizontaldriving mechanism 80 that drives the carrying hands 70 to reciprocate inthe horizontal direction X, inclination restricting members 90 providedon the mounting member 30, and others.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a rack area A1 as a transfer areawhere the rack R is transferred at a position adjacent to this componenttransfer apparatus in the X direction and a component area A2 as asupply area where a component W taken out from the rack R is supplied ora retrieval area where the component W is retrieved at a positionadjacent to the component transfer apparatus in the Y direction arearranged.

As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the rack R has a substantially rectangularparallelepiped outer profile, and the rack includes an upper frame R1, alower frame R2, vertical frames R3 provided at four corners and twocentral positions to couple the upper frame R1 with the lower frame R2,and mounting frames R4 which are provided on a plurality of levels withrespect to the vertical frame R3 and can mount the components W thereonin such a manner that the components W each having a substantiallyrectangular plate-like shape can be aligned and accommodated in thevertical direction W. It is to be noted that each of the frames R1, R2,R3, and R4 is formed to have a substantially rectangular cross section.

Furthermore, the rack R defines between the upper frame R1 and themounting frame R4 on the uppermost level a predetermined gap where thecarrying hands 70 can enter the space under the upper frame R1 and moveup and down to perform a carrying operation and a carrying releaseoperation for the rack R.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the base 10 is formed into a substantiallyrectangular tabular shape, and it fixes the support member 20 andcarries the component area A2 thereon.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the support member 20 is fixed on one sideportion of the base 10 so as to stand upright in the perpendiculardirection, and it holds the mounting member 30, the upper push member50, the carrying hands 70, and others to allow their upward and downwardmovement.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 6, the mounting member 30 is formed soas to be capable of mounting the lower frame R2 of the rack R thereonand moving up and down in the vertical direction Z.

The mounting member 30 has (two) mounting portions 31 and (two) mountingportions 32 that define a predetermined position at which the lowerframe R2 of the rack R is mounted as shown in FIG. 6 when moving downthe rack R suspended by the carrying hands 70 to be set out at thepredetermined position, and an inclined surface 31 a as a guide portionthat guides toward the predetermined position is formed on each mountingportion 31 provided on one side.

As described above, since each inclined surface 31 a that receives thelower frame R2 of the rack R and guides it to the predetermined positionis formed in the mounting member 30, the rack R is guided to thepredetermined position by each inclined surface 31 a in addition to afunction that the rack R maintains an upright posture by its own weightwhen mounting the rack R onto the mounting member 30 from the suspendedstate, whereby lateral displacement is restricted and the rack can behighly accurately set out at the predetermined position withoutproviding, e.g., a lateral push mechanism.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the first elevation driving mechanism 40includes a leadscrew 41 that is supported to be capable of rotating withrespect to the support member 20 and extends in the vertical directionZ, a driving motor 42 that drives the leadscrew 41 to rotate, a femalescrew member 43 that is fixed to the mounting member 30 and screwed tothe leadscrew 41, guide rails 44 that are fixed to the support member 20and extend in the vertical direction Z, guided portions 45 that arefixed to the mounting member 30 and slidably fitted to the guide rails44, and others.

Moreover, when the driving motor 42 positively rotates (or negativelyrotates), the leadscrew 41 positively rotates (or negatively rotates),the guided portions 45 are guided by the two guide rails 44, and themounting member 30 is driven to move up (or driven to move down).

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 6, the upper push member 50 isarranged to face the mounting member 30 from above, and it is formed toallow its relative upward and downward movement in the verticaldirection Z with respect to the mounting member 30 so that the upperframe R1 of the rack R can be pushed from the upper side.

The upper push member 50 has (two) push portions 51 and (two) pushportions 52 that push the upper frame R1 of the rack R as shown in FIG.6 when positioning the rack R on the mounting portions 31 and 32 (apredetermined position) of the mounting member 30, and an inclinedsurface 51 a as a guide portion that guides toward the predeterminedposition is formed on each push portion 51 on one side.

As described above, since each inclined surface 51 a that receives theupper frame R1 of the rack R and guides it to the predetermined positionis formed in the upper push member 50, the rack R is guided to thepredetermined position by each inclined surface 51 a in addition to thefunction that the rack R maintains an upright posture by its own weightwhen mounting the rack R onto the mounting member 30 in the suspendedstate and pushing it by the upper push member 50 from above, wherebylateral displacement can be restricted and the rack can be highlyaccurately set out at the predetermined position without providing,e.g., a lateral push mechanism.

Additionally, the upper push member 50 includes guided portions 53 thatare slidably fitted to the guide rails 44, a follower member 54 thatengages with a cam member 62 of the later-explained second elevationdriving mechanism 60, and others, thereby being driven to move up anddown.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the second elevation driving mechanism 60 isprovided on the mounting member 30, and it includes a cam member 61having a predetermined cam lift amount in the vertical direction Z, adriving motor 62 that drives the cam member 61 to rotate, and others soas to move up and down the upper push member 50 and the carrying hands70 all together.

The cam member 61 engages with the follower portion 54 of the upper pushmember 50, and it is configured to move up and down the upper pushmember 50 (and the carrying hands 70) by a predetermined height withrespect to the mounting member 30 when it rotates in a predeterminedangle range.

That is, the upper push member 50 relatively moves down with respect tothe mounting member 30 so as to push the upper frame R1 of the rack Rmounted on (the mounting portions 31 and 32 of) the mounting member 30from above and the carrying hands 70 move down so as to mount thesuspended rack R on the mounting member 30 when the driving motor 61rotates in one direction and, on the other hand, the upper push member50 relatively moves up with respect to the mounting member 30 so as torelease the pushed state of the upper frame R1 of the rack R and thecarrying hands 70 move up so as to carry the upper frame R1 and therebysuspend the rack R when the driving motor 62 rotates in the otherdirection.

As described above, since the second elevation driving mechanism 60 isprovided on the mounting member 30, an entire weight of the upper pushmember 50 that moves up and down can be reduced, and the pushingoperation and the pushing release operation can be smoothly effected.Further, since the upper push member 50 is formed to relatively move upand down with respect to the mounting member 30, just driving the firstelevation driving mechanism 40 to move up and down the mounting member30 enables moving up and down the rack R in a state that the rack R ismounted and positioned.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, 5A, 5B, and 6, the carrying hands 70 extendfrom a common slider 70 a in the horizontal direction X in a cantilevershape, are supported to be capable of relatively reciprocating in thehorizontal direction X alone with respect to the upper push member 50,and are formed to be capable of reciprocating between a retractedposition (a position indicated by solid lines in FIG. 3) where thecarrying hands 70 face the upper push member 50 from below and aprotruding position (a position indicated by chain double-dashed linesin FIG. 3) where the carrying hands 70 protrudes from the upper pushmember 50 in the horizontal direction.

Furthermore, the carrying hands 70 enter the space below the upper frameR1 of the rack R and carry and suspend the rack R at the protrudingposition, and are driven so as to move up and down together with theupper push member 50 to mount the rack R on the mounting member 30 atthe retracted position.

Moreover, each carrying hand 70 has carrying portions 71 and 72 thatcarry the upper frame R1 of the rack R as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B whenentering the space below the upper frame R1 of the rack R to carry it,and an inclined surface 71 a that restricts displacement of the rack Ris formed on the carrying portion 71 on one side.

As described above, since the carrying hands 70 are formed to relativelymove in the horizontal direction X alone with respect to the upper pushmember 50, the second elevation driving mechanism 60 that moves up anddown the upper push member 50 can also function as the driving mechanismthat moves up and down the carrying hands 70 to simplify theconfiguration as described above, and the operation for pushing the rackR by the upper push member 50 can be carried out in interlock(synchronization) with the operation for mounting the rack R on themounting member 30.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the horizontal driving mechanism 80 includesguide rails 81 provided to extend in the horizontal direction X on thelower surface of the upper push member 50, guided portions 82 that areprovided on the upper surface of the common slider 70 a of the carryinghands 70 and slidably fitted to the guide rails 81, a long groove member83 that defines a long groove 83 a downwardly extending from the commonslider 70 a, a driving motor 84 fixed to the upper push member 50, anoscillating arm 85 that is directly coupled with the driving motor 84and driven to oscillate and has an end slidably coupled with the longgroove 83 a and others.

That is, the oscillating arm 85 rotates in the clockwise direction inFIG. 3 to move to a substantially horizontal position facing theleft-hand side and the carrying hands 70 are set out at the retractedposition where the carrying hands 70 face the upper push member 50 fromthe lower side when the driving motor 84 rotates at a predeterminedangle alone in one direction and, on the other hand, the oscillating arm85 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3 to move to asubstantially horizontal direction facing the right-hand side and thecarrying hands 70 are set out at the protruding position where thecarrying hands 70 protrude from the upper push member 50 in thehorizontal direction X when the driving motor 84 rotates a predeterminedangle alone in the other direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 6, and 7, the two inclination restrictingmembers 90 are provided with respect to the mounting member 30, and eachof the inclination restricting members 90 is formed so as to define anend face 91 that engages with an outer surface R3′ of the vertical frameR3 of the rack R, and an inclined surface 92 that engages with an innersurface R3″ of the vertical frame R3 when the carrying hands 70 returnto the retracted position.

Moreover, when the rack R is mounted on the mounting member 30, the endface 91 engages with the outer surface R3′ and the inclined surface 92engages with the inner surface R3″, whereby the inclination restrictingmembers 90 position the vertical frame R3 of the rack R at thepredetermined position in the horizontal direction X and avoidinclination of the rack R. As a result, the configuration can besimplified, lateral displacement and inclination of the rack R can berestricted, the rack R can be highly accurately set out at thepredetermined position, and the inner surface R3″ having a small error(variations) in manufacture can be restricted in particular, therebyassuredly and highly accurately setting out the rack R at thepredetermined position.

A carrying-in operation (a transfer method) for the rack R by theabove-mentioned apparatus will now be described with reference to FIGS.8 to 10.

First, as shown in (S1) in FIG. 8, the rack R is brought in by aconveyor or an operator to enter a standby mode at a transfer positionin the rack area A1. It is to be noted that an empty state of the rack Ris shown in this example.

Subsequently, as shown in (S2) in FIG. 8, the carrying hands 70 movefrom the retracted position where the carrying hands 70 face the upperpush member 50 toward the protruding position where the carrying hands70 protrude in the horizontal direction X by the protrusion driving ofthe horizontal driving mechanism 80, and the carrying hands 70 enter thespace below the upper frame R1 of the rack R.

Then, as shown in (S3) in FIG. 9, the carrying hands 70 move up for apredetermined height together with the mounting member 30 and the upperpush member 50 by the upward driving of the first elevation drivingmechanism 40, and they are thereby set out at a rack delivery/receiptposition (a position where the mounting member 30 has a height H1). As aresult, the carrying hands 70 carry (lift up) the upper frame R1 fromthe lower side and maintain the rack R in a suspended state (a carryingstep).

At this moment, the carrying hands 70 carry the upper frame R1 on thecarrying portions 71 and 72 and also restrict displacement of the upperframe R1 by the inclined surfaces 71 a.

Subsequently, as shown in (S4) in FIG. 9, the carrying hands 70 move toand stop at the retracted position where the carrying hands 70 face theupper push member 50 from the lower side by the retraction driving ofthe horizontal driving mechanism 80. At this time, the rack R ispositioned immediately above the position where the rack R is mounted onthe mounting member 30. Moreover, the inclination restricting members 90engage with the vertical frames R3 of the rack R to restrict lateraldisplacement and inclination of the rack R.

Then, as shown in (S5) in FIG. 10, by the downward driving of the secondelevation driving mechanism 60, the upper push member 50 and thecarrying hands 70 move down all together (in synchronization with eachother), the lower frame R2 is guided by the inclined surfaces 31 a torestrict its displacement, (the lower frame R2 of) the rack R is mountedon the mounting portions 31 and 32, and the carrying hands 70 move downto be apart from the upper frame R1, thereby releasing the carrying (amounting step). Additionally, the upper push member 50 pushes the upperframe R1 of the rack R mounted on the mounting member 30 from the upperside by using the push portions 51 and 52 thereof (a pushing step).

As a result, the rack R is positioned and held (fixed) at thepredetermined position by the mounting member 30 and the upper pushmember 50.

Since the carrying-in operation for the rack R is performed as a seriesof operations, i.e., the carrying step, the mounting step, and thepushing step in this manner, the rack R can be smoothly carried in andset out at the predetermined position. Further, in this example, sincethe lowering operation for the carrying hands 70 and the loweringoperation for the upper push member 50 are performed in synchronizationwith each other, the operation for pushing the rack R by using the upperpush member 50 can be smoothly continuously effected after the operationfor mounting the rack R on the mounting member 30.

Additionally, at the mounting step (the operation for retracting thecarrying hands 70) and the pushing step, since the inclinationrestricting operation for restricting the inclination of the rack R andthe guiding operation for guiding to the predetermined position arecarried out, whereby the rack R can be highly accurately set out at thepredetermined position while assuredly restricting the inclination ofthe rack R.

Thereafter, as shown in (S6) in FIG. 10, the rack R moves up or down inthe vertical direction Z step by step by the elevation driving of thefirst elevation driving mechanism 40 to perform a transferring operationfor sequentially retrieving the components W from the component area A2(an elevating step).

It is to be noted that the example where the rack R to be carried in isempty has been described here, but a transferring operation forsequentially taking out and supplying the components W to the componentarea A2 is carried out when the rack R is filled with the components W.

The carrying-out operation (the transfer method) of the rack R performedby the above-mentioned apparatus will now be described with reference toFIGS. 11 to 13.

First, as shown in (S1) in FIG. 11, the carrying hands are positioned atthe rack delivery/receipt position (the position where the mountingmember 30 has the height H1) together with the mounting member 30 andthe upper push member 50 by the elevation driving of the first elevationdriving mechanism 40.

Then, as shown in (S2) in FIG. 11, the upper push member 50 and thecarrying hands 70 move up all together (in synchronization with eachother) by the upward movement operation of the second elevation drivingmechanism 60, the upper push member 50 moves away from the upper frameR1 to release the pushing from the upper side (a pushing releasingstep), and then the carrying hands 70 carry the upper frame R1 from thelower side at the retracted position to maintain the rack R in thesuspended state (a carrying step).

Subsequently, as shown in (S3) in FIG. 12, the carrying hands 70 movefrom the retracted position where the carrying hands 70 face the upperpush member 50 toward the protruding position where the carrying hands70 protrude in the horizontal direction X by the protrusion driving ofthe horizontal driving mechanism 80, thereby positioning the rack Rimmediately above (the transferring position of) the rack area A1.

Then, as shown in (S4) in FIG. 12, the carrying hands 70 move down for apredetermined height together with the mounting member 30 and the upperpush member 50 to shift the rack R to (the shift position in) the rackarea A1 by the lowering operation of the first elevation drivingmechanism 40, and the carrying hands 70 move apart from the upper frameR1 (a shifting step).

Subsequently, as shown in (S5) in FIG. 13, the carrying hands 70 move toand stop at the retracted position where the carrying hands 70 face theupper push member 50 from the lower side by the retraction driving ofthe horizontal driving mechanism 80.

Since the carrying-out operation of the rack R is performed as a seriesof operations, i.e., the pushing release step, the carrying step, andthe shifting step in this manner, the rack R can be smoothly carried outand shifted from the predetermined position to the rack area A1.

Further, in this example, since the elevating operation for the upperpush member 50 and the elevating operation for the carrying hands 70 areperformed in synchronization with each other, the operation for carryingand suspending the rack R by the carrying hands 70 can be smoothlycontinuously effected after the operation for releasing the pushing ofthe rack R by the upper push member 50.

As explained above, according to the component transfer apparatus andmethod, since the rack R can be smoothly carried in or carried out andthe components W can be smoothly supplied and retrieved, operationefficiency can be improved, and productivity can be enhanced.

In particular, since the upper push member 50 is arranged to face themounting member 30 from above and the carrying hands 70 are arranged toface the upper push member 50 from below at the retracted position, aseries of carrying-in operations, i.e., carrying in the rack R by thecarrying hands 70, mounting the rack R on the mounting member 30, andpushing the rack R by the upper push member 50, the positioningoperation or the positioning release, and the carrying-out operation canbe smoothly and efficiently performed. Moreover, since the rack R istransferred in the state that the carrying hands 70 carry and suspendthe upper frame R1 from the lower side, the upright posture can bemaintained by its own weight, or impact shock and others produced at thetime of sliding and shifting can be avoided, thereby preventing thecomponents W from falling or being damaged.

Additionally, if each of the mounting member 30, the upper push member50, the carrying hands 70, and the inclination restricting members 90can function in this component transfer apparatus, it is possible toflexibly cope with various kinds of racks, and the respective drivingmechanisms 40, 60 and 80 can integrate the energy systems since thedriving force is generated by using all the driving motors 42, 62, and84, thereby contributing to a reduction in cost.

Although the carrying hands 70 are movably provided to the upper pushmember 50 in the foregoing embodiment, the present invention is notrestricted thereto, and the carrying hands may be supported with respectto the support member 20 separately from the upper push member 50 so asto be capable of moving up and down and horizontally reciprocating.

Although the upper push member 50 is provided to move up and down withrespect to the mounting member 30 in the foregoing embodiment, thepresent invention is not restricted thereto, and it may be configured tobe supported with respect to the support member 20 so as to be capableof moving up and down so that it can relatively move up and down withrespect to the mounting member 30.

Although the second elevation driving mechanism 60 that drives the upperpush member 50 to move up and down is provided to the mounting member 30in the foregoing embodiment, the present invention is not restrictedthereto, and it may be provided to the upper push member or may beprovided to the support member 20.

Although the four push portions (the two push portions 51 and the twopush portions 52) that push the upper frame R1 of the rack R at fourpositions are provided to the upper push member 50 in the foregoingembodiment, the present invention is not restricted thereto, it ispossible to adopt a structure where the push portions 52 each having aflat shape are eliminated and the push portions 51 each having theinclined surface 51 a as the guide portion alone are provided. In thiscase, even though the rack R is slightly deformed, it can be assuredlypushed from above and positioned and fixed at a predetermined position.

Although the delivery/receipt position of the rack R is the same heightposition (the position of H1) in the foregoing embodiment, the presentinvention is not restricted thereto, and a receipt position of the rackR and a delivery position of the rack R may be set to different heightpositions (e.g., the receipt position of the rack R may be set to a“lower position” that is a low position, and the delivery position ofthe rack R may be set to an “upper position” that is a high position).

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the component transfer apparatus and methodaccording to the present invention can flexibly cope various kinds ofracks (or magazines, cassettes, and others) that are utilized whensupplying and retrieving components and can smoothly and highlyaccurately perform transfer and positioning of the racks while achievingsimplification, miniaturization, or cost reduction of the configuration,and hence can smoothly supply and retrieve the components, whereby theycan be of course utilized in, e.g., a production line for transferringcomponents of electronic devices or a production line for transferringmechanical components and they are useful in a transfer line fortransferring components in any other fields.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A component transfer apparatus thattransfers components by transferring and positioning a rack at apredetermined position, the rack including an upper frame, a lowerframe, and vertical frames at four corners, the apparatus comprising: amounting member configured to mount the lower frame of the rack thereon,the mounting member being moveable in an up and down direction; a firstelevation driving mechanism configured to drive the mounting member soas to be capable of moving up and down; an upper push member disposed soas to be capable of coming into contact with a part of the mountingmember, and being configured to be driven to move up and down to pushthe upper frame of the rack from above; a second elevation drivingmechanism disposed at a portion at which the mounting member and theupper push member come into contact with each other on the mountingmember, and being configured to drive the upper push member so as to becapable of moving up and down; a pair of carrying hands attached to theupper push member at a face opposed to a rack mounting face of themounting member, and being disposed so as to protrude with respect tothe upper push member to carry the rack in and out in a horizontaldirection; and a horizontal driving mechanism configured to drive thepair of carrying hands so as to be capable of moving in and out in thehorizontal direction, wherein the mounting member includes aninclination restricting member configured to restrict an inclination ofthe rack when the rack is mounted on the mounting member, and theinclination restricting member is disposed so as to engage with outersurfaces of the vertical frames of the rack and engage with innersurfaces of the vertical frames of the rack when the carrying handsretract below the upper push member from a protruding condition.
 2. Thecomponent transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of thecarrying hands has carrying portions for carrying the upper frame of therack.
 3. The component transfer apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe upper push member is configured so as to be capable of moving up anddown with respect to the mounting member, and the horizontal drivingmechanism is configured to move the pair of carrying hands with respectto the upper push member in the horizontal direction alone.
 4. Thecomponent transfer apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a guideportion configured to receive the lower frame of the rack and guide thelower frame to the predetermined position is disposed in the mountingmember, and a guide portion configured to receive the upper frame of therack and guide the upper frame to the predetermined position is disposedin the upper push member.
 5. The component transfer apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the first elevation driving mechanism includes anelevation guide rail extending in a vertical direction, and an elevationguided portion disposed on the mounting member so as to be capable ofbeing guided along the elevation guide rail; and the upper push memberincludes an upper elevation guided portion configured to be slidablyguided along the elevation guide rail.
 6. The component transferapparatus according to claim 3, wherein the horizontal driving mechanismincludes a horizontal guide rail configured to extend in the horizontaldirection on an underside of the upper push member, and a horizontalguided portion disposed on the carrying hand so as to be capable ofbeing slidably guided along the horizontal guide rail.
 7. A componenttransfer apparatus that transfers components by transferring andpositioning a rack at a predetermined position, the rack including anupper frame, a lower frame, and vertical frames at four corners, theapparatus comprising: a mounting member configured to mount the lowerframe of the rack thereon, the mounting member being movable in an upand down direction; a first elevation driving mechanism configured todrive the mounting member so as to be capable of moving up and down; anupper push member disposed so as to be capable of coming into contactwith a part of the mounting member, and being configured to be driven tomove up and down to push the upper frame of the rack from above; asecond elevation driving mechanism disposed at a portion at which themounting member and the upper push member come into contact with eachother on the mounting member, and being configured to drive the upperpush member so as to be capable of moving up and down; a pair ofcarrying hands attached to the upper push member at a face opposed to arack mounting face of the mounting member, and being disposed so as toprotrude with respect to the upper push member to carry the rack in andout in a horizontal direction; a horizontal driving mechanism configuredto drive the pair of carrying hands so as to be capable of moving in andout in the horizontal direction; and a base member installed on a floorand supporting the first elevation driving mechanism, wherein themounting member includes an inclination restricting member configured torestrict an inclination of the rack when the rack is mounted on themounting member, and the inclination restricting member is disposed soas to engage with outer surfaces of the vertical frames of the rack andengage with inner surfaces of the vertical frames of the rack when thecarrying hands retract below the upper push member from a protrudingcondition.
 8. The component transfer apparatus according to claim 7,wherein the first elevation driving mechanism includes an elevationguide rail fixed to the base member and extending in a verticaldirection, and an elevation guided portion disposed on the mountingmember so as to be capable of being guided along the elevation guiderail; and the upper push member includes an upper elevation guidedportion configured to be slidably guided along the elevation guide rail.9. The component transfer apparatus according to claim 7, wherein eachof the carrying hands has carrying portions for carrying the upper frameof the rack.
 10. A component transfer apparatus that transferscomponents by transferring and positioning a rack at a predeterminedposition, the rack including an upper frame, a lower frame, and verticalframes at four corners, the apparatus comprising: a mounting memberconfigured to mount the lower frame of the rack thereon; an upper pushmember arranged to face the mounting member from above and beingconfigured to be driven to move up and down to push the upper frame ofthe rack from above; a carrying hand disposed so as to be capable ofentering a space between the upper frame and the lower frame of the rackin an inside space defined by the upper frame, the lower frame, and thevertical frames of the rack, and the carrying hand is capable ofprotruding with respect to the upper push member in a horizontaldirection to carry the rack in and out; a horizontal driving mechanismconfigured to drive the carrying hand in the horizontal direction; afirst elevation driving mechanism configured to drive the mountingmember, the upper push member and the carrying hand so as to be capableof moving up and down; and a second elevation driving mechanism disposedon the mounting member and being configured to drive the upper pushmember and the carrying hand together so as to be capable of moving upand down, wherein the upper push member and the carrying hand areconfigured such that the carrying hand is capable of separating from therack to release a suspension of the rack and the second elevationdriving mechanism is operable to drive the upper push member downward topush the rack toward the mounting member, and to move the upper pushmember away from the mounting member and separate from the rack torelease the push of the rack, and the second elevational drivingmechanism is operable to drive the carrying hand in an upward directionto suspend the rack.